VA problems continue to threaten patient safety

The nation's health care system for military veterans continues to be racked by problems. Last year, politicians promised that the billions of dollars to be spent on a digital medical records system would deliver "faster, better and far better quality care."

The $4.3 billion system has "utterly failed to achieve those goals," according to a recent USA Today report. Instead, in the VA hospitals where the medical records system has been rolled out, fewer patients are being seen and doctors have quit for fear of harming patients -- perhaps even killing veterans who were there for help.

Flaws in the Cerner medical record system include prescription errors, specialist referrals were failing to go through and even simple things such as requests for lab reports were confusing doctors.

Unfortunately, the patient-threatening problems don't end there. Physicians report it takes 10 minutes to even log into the Cerner system, only to be kicked back out moments later. Contractors have also been unable to come up with usable workarounds for the system's multiple flaws.

The technical problems are having drastic effects, too. One patient was apparently admitted to a VA facility with a serious heart condition. He died after receiving the wrong treatment -- "partly because of tests that were sent to another military hospital and lost."

It appears that once again politicians are letting our veterans down and putting their well-being at risk.

If you have been harmed by a negligent doctor, nurse of VA medical facility, contact an attorney who represents vets across the nation in medical malpractice claims.

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A San Antonio, Texas, personal injury lawyer with a national practice who also serves clients on military bases throughout the world. We handle cases in Texas cities such as Wichita Falls, Austin, Houston and Dallas and accept cases throughout the United States. Our recent national cases have been in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, Florida and North Carolina.